The Germans heading for Lyutinovo were ambushed by the 324th and 328th Infantry Divisions, and after a brief panic, the German resistance became orderly. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Although the Soviets had a numerical advantage, due to the lack of sufficient heavy weapons, it was not so easy to eat the enemy in one bite, and the battle fell into a stalemate.

While the fighting was raging in the Lyutinovo direction, the German offensive in the Zhizdra area finally stopped, giving the Soviet troops who were holding here a precious respite.

The special company commanded by Zhu Zhendong was responsible for defending a section of the second line of defense. After confirming that the German offensive had stopped, many of the soldiers who had fought hard for two days sat in the trenches with their guns in their arms, tilted their heads, and fell into a deep sleep.

Although the company commander Zhu Zhendong was also exhausted, he still bothered his spirit and walked around the trenches with the deputy company commander Li Muzi, checking whether the fortifications needed to be repaired, and counting the company's casualties.

After dark, he summoned the few surviving officers to the command post for a meeting.

After everyone came, Lao Zhu nodded at Li Muzi and ordered: "Deputy company commander, you can introduce the current situation to everyone." ”

Li Muzi nodded, got up from his seat, swept his eyes from his familiar comrades-in-arms one by one, and said: "Comrades, everyone knows that our defensive battle in the past two days has been very hard. There are 120 people in the company, and so far, only 34 people remain. 6 officers and 28 fighters ...... to be exact"

Tang Sanshui, the leader of the platoon, interjected and said: "Of the original anti-United Nations fighters, there were only six of us officers left, and the rest were either sacrificed or sent off after being wounded. He originally wanted to continue, but when he saw Lao Zhu glaring at him fiercely, he obediently closed his mouth and continued to listen to Li Muzi's introduction to the situation.

"The position we defend is 200 meters long from north to south and 100 meters wide from east to west." After reporting these data, Li Muzi said with some embarrassment: "With our current strength, each person has to defend about 6 meters of frontage. If the Germans concentrate their forces on our side, it will not be difficult to break through our positions. ”

"Can the higher authorities send us more reinforcements?" The second platoon leader, Chen Xiaopai, asked cautiously.

"Reinforcements, I can't count on them." Lao Zhu waited for Chen Xiaopaw to finish speaking, then shook his head and said: "In order to hold the defensive position on our right flank, not only did all the staff officers and logistics personnel in the regiment join the battle, but even the division also filled in the only remaining guard company. As far as I know, apart from the division commander and chief of staff, there are only a few communications corps left in the division headquarters. ”

Hearing Lao Zhu say this, everyone's hearts are like falling into an ice cellar, wow cool wow cool. After a long time, Lao Zhu opened his mouth and asked Lei Zifeng, the mortar platoon commander who had not spoken: "Hey, I said Xiao Lei, how many shells are left of your mortar?" ”

After Lei Zifeng heard Lao Zhu's question, he replied with a wry smile: "There is only one mortar cannon left, and five shells left." ”

"What?" After listening to Lei Zifeng's answer, Lao Zhu suddenly stood up from his seat, pointed at the other party with his finger, and said angrily: "I remember that before the defensive battle started, your platoon still had four mortars and two hundred shells, how come it was only two days, and there was only so little left?" ”

"Comrade Company Commander, you can't blame me." Lei Zifeng replied aggrievedly: "Although we are not the main defensive position here, the German attack is still fierce. In battle, in order to destroy those points of machine-gun fire that pose the greatest threat to our troops, we can only use mortar shelling. ”

After listening to Lei Zifeng's explanation, the anger in Lao Zhu's heart calmed down a little, but he still said dissatisfiedly: "But two hundred shells were destroyed in two days, which is too fast." You must know that when we are in the northeast, we can wipe out a stronghold of the Japanese with five shells. ”

"Can the Wokos compare with the Germans?" Lei Zifeng said unconvinced: "What kind of equipment are the Japanese and what kind of equipment are the Germans?" Those Douding chariots of the Japanese were a big toy in front of the German tanks. The Japanese infantry used a single shot to pull the trigger, while the German submachine guns and MG34 machine guns, as long as a salvo fired, could crush our fighters in the trenches without raising their heads......"

"Okay, okay, let's stop arguing." Seeing that Lei Zifeng continued to say this, there might be a conflict with Lao Zhu, Li Muzi hurriedly came out to be a peacemaker: "Let's study how to deal with the German attack tomorrow." ”

"How much ammunition do the fighters have?" Lao Zhu then asked.

"On average, there are a hundred rounds of ammunition per person, and four grenades." The answer to his question was Xiao Tian, the commander of the third platoon, and almost all the surviving soldiers today were from the third platoon, unlike the remaining soldiers of the other two platoons, which added up to less than ten people. "If the Germans attack again like today, our ammunition is estimated to last only half a day."

"Comrade Company Commander," Li Muzi waited for Xiao Tian to finish speaking, and immediately suggested to Lao Zhu: "Call your superiors and ask them to replenish our ammunition overnight, otherwise, we won't be able to support us tomorrow." ”

Who knew that when Lao Zhu called the battalion headquarters and asked his superiors to support ammunition, he was refused. The battalion commander said on the phone: "...... I don't have any extra ammunition here, so you'll have to figure it out on your own. You can organize people overnight to go to the enemy's corpse in front of the position to collect usable weapons and ammunition, and you can't expect your superiors to solve everything for you, understand? ”

When Lao Zhu relayed the words of the battalion commander, Tang Sanshui said angrily: "What is this called, if you want the horses to run and the horses not to eat grass." If we don't give ammunition, forget it, and after the bullets run out, we will engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Germans. Don't look at their tall cattle and horses, but when it comes to fighting bayonets, they can't even compare with the Japanese pirates, and there are at least five or six Germans who fell under my bayonets. ”

"In a white-knuckle battle, you kill five or six by yourself, but if there are fifty or sixty, can you kill them all?" After Lao Zhu said these words coldly, he instructed Tang Sanshui: "You immediately take the surviving soldiers of your platoon and go to the front of the position overnight to collect weapons." ”

"But Comrade Company Commander," Hearing the order given to him by Lao Zhu, Tang Sanshui's head was bigger, and he said bitterly: "Our platoon includes me, there are only four people left, and there are two wounded among them, you let us go to collect weapons, isn't this deliberately embarrassing us?" ”

"Comrade Company Commander," Chen Xiaopu saw Tang Sanshui's bitter gourd face, and said to Lao Zhu with some reluctance: "Let's let our second platoon go and help, after all, there are still five people left in our platoon, which can speed up the collection of weapons and ammunition." ”

"Yes," Lao Zhu readily agreed to Chen Xiaopaw's request: "As soon as it gets dark, you two platoons will act immediately, and be sure to move as much ammunition back to the position as possible before dawn." ”

Just as they were discussing how to replenish the troops, Rokossovsky, who was at the headquarters of the army group, received a call from Zakharov from the city. Zakharov asked anxiously: "Comrade commander, the number of troops in the city has been attrition too great, the defense forces everywhere have become relatively weak, and in the past two days of fighting, the ammunition has been consumed too much, if it cannot be replenished in time, I am afraid that I will not be able to survive even tomorrow." ”

"Comrade Zakharov," Rokossovsky said, glancing at the battle reports piled up in front of him, "the battle with the Germans is currently unfolding in the area of Lyutinovo and Sushnych, and it may not be known until tomorrow, so you must resolutely hold on to Zhizdra no matter what." As for the ammunition, I'll have the logistics department send it to you overnight. ”

Although I didn't get the reinforcements I wanted, it was better than nothing to get ammunition to replenish them. Zakharov, waiting for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, immediately added: "In addition to ammunition for small arms, I need a lot of shells." There were not enough troops, and I could only suppress the German attacking forces by artillery fire. ”

"I see." Rokossovsky said: "I will ask the Minister of Logistics to replenish you with as many shells as possible." But you have to assure me that, in any case, we will hold out until five o'clock tomorrow afternoon, for only then will it be possible for us to assemble all the forces of the counterattack. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Zakharov patted his chest and promised: "Even if there is only one of us left, we will hold out until five o'clock in the afternoon." ”

As soon as Malinin waited for Rokossovsky to put down the phone, he couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade commander, since the situation in Zhizdra is so critical, why didn't you put the reserves into battle earlier?" ”

Rokossovsky turned his head to look at him, and then replied: "The enemy's offensive momentum has not completely weakened, and if we launch a counteroffensive at such a time, even if we can achieve some results, the battle will quickly enter a stalemate, and then it will turn into a brutal and protracted positional war." As long as Zakharov they consume as much of the enemy's living forces as possible, the less resistance we will have in the next battle. ”

Having comprehended Rokossovsky's intentions, Malinin immediately replied: "Comrade commander, I understand. I then called the logistics minister and ordered him to immediately organize manpower to deliver the ammunition needed by the troops to the city overnight. ”

"Wait a minute," seeing that Malinin turned to leave, Rokossovsky stopped him again and asked, "When will the battle on the Lyutinovo side end?" ”

"The 108th Infantry Division has entered the city of Lyutinovo, and it is estimated that the battle will be resolved before dawn tomorrow." Malinin replied clearly: "And the 324th and 328th Infantry Divisions are now fighting with the Germans in the forest area, and the battle is very fierce, and it is difficult to say whether the battle can be resolved before tomorrow." ”